Megaupload shutdown

Megaupload, one of the internet's largest file-sharing sites, has been shut down by officials in the US.

The site's founders have been charged with violating piracy laws.

Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue. The firm says it was diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.

Police seized millions of pounds, a vast collection of luxury cars and sawn-off shotguns yesterday when they raided the mansion of a man accused of being one of the world’s biggest internet pirates.

Swooping on convicted fraudster Kim Dotcom’s £16million home outside Auckland by helicopter, officers had to cut their way in to arrest him after the founder of the MegaUpload website retreated into a fortified safe room.

Dotcom, 37 – nicknamed Dr Evil – has Finnish and German citizenship. He and six of his employees face charges by U.S. prosecutors in what they say is one of the biggest criminal copyright theft cases ever brought.

Filesonic.com stopped allowing people to download files that they had not uploaded themselves, while Uploaded.to blocked access from Internet locations in the United States.

However, just 3 percent of U.S. Internet users relied on digital lockers like Megaupload in the third quarter, according to NPD market research, compared with 9 percent who used peer-to-peer networks, which allow sharing of files among consumers' computers with little or no central organization.

Peer-to-peer systems, including BitTorrent and PirateBay, might gain more activity after the Megaupload charges, analysts said, while users may be afraid to upload content to lockers for fear they will lose access in a similar shutdown.